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Family Set To Drop Webcam Spying Class Action Against School District (LN Litigation Resource Community)

PHILADELPHIA – (Mealey’s) A high school student’s family that accused a suburban Philadelphia school district of unlawfully spying on students through the webcams of district-issued laptop computers said in a court filing May 11 that it would likely drop its class action claims against the district (Blake J. Robbins, et al. v. Lower Merion School District, et al., No. 10-cv-0665, E.D. Pa.).

The family of Blake J. Robbins said it would likely drop its pursuit of a class action as a result of “productive discussions” with the Lower Merion School District. The family said an injunction would permanently bar the district from using technology to track students’ computers, would require the district to establish a process by which parents and students whose images were captured by the Webcams may view the images and would require the district to set up new policies and safeguards for using such technology. The plaintiffs said they hoped a resolution of all necessary equitable relief could be achieved before a June 7 deadline in which the plaintiffs must file a motion seeking class certification. The Robbins family said it intends to pursue individual claims for compensatory and punitive damages against the district.